UNITED STATES v. THE YACONA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

May 28, 1953

UNITED STATES
v.
THE YACONA et al.

The opinion of the court was delivered by: GANEY

The suit here involved was brought by the United States for damages caused to a dolphin when it was struck by the motor vessel Yacona. The latter has impleaded The Pennsylvania Railroad Company as the owner and operator of a drawbridge spanning the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The amount of damages is admitted to be $ 4,565. The issues posed are: were both or just one of the respondents responsible, or was the damage unavoidable. From the evidence presented to it, the court makes the following Findings of Facts:

1. The United States is the owner of the stationary navigation structure, known as a 37-pile dolphin, located in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

2. The motor vessel Yacona is a single screw tank vessel 214 feet in length, 37 feet in beam with a draft when fully loaded of 14 feet, 3 inches. Her gross tonnage is 1,083 tons, her net being 612 tons.

3. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the impleaded respondent, is the owner and operator of the railroad drawbridge crossing the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal at a point approximately nine miles from Reedy Point, the eastern terminus of the Canal.

4. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is a body of water 12 miles long connecting the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay. It is a government owned sea level canal with a channel 27 feet deep and 250 feet wide at its narrowest portion. At Lorewood Grove, a point approximately 8 miles west of Reedy Point, the canal bends in a northwesterly direction at about an angle of forty-five degrees.

9. Several lights operated by the bridge tender are located on each side of the drawspan of the bridge, which is of the vertical lift type, to direct traffic approaching from either direction of the canal. These lights, which supplement the whistle blast signals, light up and indicate as follows:

(a) Fixed green: bridge open to navigation and vessel may proceed;

(b) Fixed red: bridge closed to navigation in that direction; vessel unable to pass under drawspan must be kept under control so it can be stopped if necessary;

10. On August 11, 1948, when the weather was clear and visibility was excellent, the drawbridge tender saw the S.S. Paducah Victory, which was proceeding eastwardly in the canal, pass under Summit Bridge 1.4 nautical miles west of the drawbridge. The Paducah Victory, a victory ship, was 495 feet long, and her gross tonnage was from 8 to 10 thousand tons. At 5:38 P.M., E.S.T., the tender gave her the green light to indicate that she had the right of way to pass under the bridge.

11. When the Paducah Victory was between 2,500 and 3,000 feet from the bridge, the tender saw for the first time the Yacona which had rounded the bend at Lorewood Grove at approximately 5:48 P.M., E.S.T.

12. At 5:50 P.M., E.S.T., when the Yacona was abeam of the '5000 foot warning sign' she gave three whistle blasts to indicate that she desired to pass under the bridge.

13. Although a current of 2 to 2 1/2 knots was in the Yacona's favor,
*fn2"
the bridge tender, taking into consideration the size of the 'Paducah Victory,' her nearness to the bridge and the fact that he had already given that vessel the green light, gave the Yacona a fixed red or flashing amber light. He did not give the usual returning whistle blast to the Yacona for fear that it might confuse the Paducah Victory.

14. Under the circumstances, the drawbridge tender's exercise of judgment was reasonable.

19. In the meantime, at 5:47 P.M., E.S.T., when the Paducah Victory cleared the drawbridge, the tender gave the Yacona the green light. at about 6:01 P.M., E.S.T., she also cleared the drawbridge.

Conclusions of Law

1. This court has jurisdiction of the subject matter and the parties to this suit.

2. The Yacona, a vessel in motion having collided with a stationary object, has not shown that it was without fault or that the accident was in part the result of the negligence of the impleaded respondent.

3. The Yacona's negligence was the sole and proximate cause of the damage to the dolphin.

4. The libellant is entitled to a decree against the respondent, Yacona, in the amount of $ 4,565.

5. The impleaded respondent is entitled to a decree of dismissal against the libellant.

Accordingly, the libellant and the impleaded respondent may prepare and submit decrees in accordance with the foregoing findings of facts and conclusions of law.

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